USW Local 1023L posted a summary of the tentative agreement on its website prior to the ratification vote, saying Yokohama "hit us at about every angle imaginable, attempting to reduce or eliminate benefit provisions, language and protections that would affect our least senior members, our senior members and our retirees."
Management at the plant characterized negotiations concisely in a Sept. 20 statement after the tentative agreement had been reached, saying they "went well."
"Negotiations once again went well as both sides were professional and worked diligently throughout the process," Tetsuro "Tex" Murakami, president of YTMV, said in the statement. "Representatives from both sides agreed this is a fair and equitable contract that's beneficial to all parties involved."
The negotiating committee for the local chapter—which included Local 1023L President Steve Jones—ultimately recommended the tentative agreement and detailed certain concessions that Yokohama allegedly requested from the USW—but did not achieve.
According to the committee, these included proposals, among 119 other line items, that would have:
- eliminated seniority via use of "production specialists based on the company's needs;"
- eliminated double-time pay;
- implemented increased deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums for health insurance;
- eliminated holiday pay if a person did not work the day before or the day after the holiday, "even if the absence was justifiable;" and
- eliminated the ability of new hires to receive a pension or retiree health care (and being offered a minimal 401K contribution instead).
The union was able to prevent many of these requested items, according to the tentative agreement, and achieved further benefits such as maintaining a current cost-of-living calculation for the life of the new labor contract; increases in hourly pay in some positions; the elimination of the two-tier wage system; vacation gains for new hires; and a 3-year, rather than 5-year, wage progression (at 75, 85 and 95 percent per year, as negotiated).
The 500 union workers also saw gains in life and health insurance, limiting weekly medical premiums.
"Although the company was determined to increase drug co-payments up to 100 percent and completely change the approval process for some drugs, the committee was determined not to agree with this," the tentative agreement summary states.
"We managed to maintain our active drug benefits as-is, and there are no increases in our co-payments."
Yokohama and the USW also agreed on policies related to hour-restricted employees, along with "measures to accommodate such restrictions while minimizing the impact on fellow employees and operations," Yokohama Virginia Human Resources Director Randy Hill wrote to Jones Sept. 16.
"The company and union agree that CBA provisions regarding the scheduling of hours of work and overtime for individuals with such restrictions should not and do not apply in the same manner as they apply to individuals without such restrictions," Hill states. "Instead, the company and union agree that such individuals may be assigned work schedules consistent with their restrictions and operational needs ... that minimize additional burden on co-workers."
For example, an employee that has restrictions on their hours who takes holiday or vacation can be required to work beyond their normal schedule, "including weekend hours, so long as the hours actually worked (not counting leave hours) do not exceed their restriction."
Yokohama's passenger and light truck tire plant in Salem is approximately 243,000 square feet, with just fewer than 700 total employees, according to Yokohama.
The plant opened in 1968 and has capacity for 6.2 million passenger and light truck tires per year.
Yokohama Tire Corp. and Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Virginia are part of Yokohama Corp. of North America, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo, Japan-based Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. The tire maker, founded in 1917, is the eighth-largest tire maker worldwide, according to Tire Business data.
